Washing and/or drying machine



7, 1968 R. R. CANDOR ETAL 3 5 v WASHING AND/0R DRYING MACHINE I Original Filed Sept. 21, 1936 2 Sheets- Sh ee t 1 2 FIG-l e6 INVENTORS ROBERT R. CANDOR JAMES CANDOR Dec. 17, 1968 R. R. CANDOR ETAL WASHING AND/OR DRYING MACHINE 2 Sheets-sheaf 2 7 Original Filed Sept. 21, 1966 FIG-7 s R m NN W H N t R r S EE BM 0A RJ United States Patent 3,416,334 WASHING AND/0R DRYING MACHINE Robert R. 'Candor, Miami Township, Montgomery County, and James T. Candor, Centerville, Ohio, assignors to Whirlpool Corporation, Benton Township, Mich., a corporation of Delaware Continuation of application Ser. No. 544,192, Sept. 21, 1966. This application Sept. 22, 1967, Ser. No. 669,970 10 Claims. (Cl. 6820) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE This disclosure relates to a laundry machine having a stationary laundry supporting portion disposed intermediate two movable laundry supporting portions with the stationary laundry supporting portion having a foraminous nozzle inlet means connected therewith whereby movement of the movable portions will move wet laundry and the like across the formainous part of the stationary portion and have the moisture thereof removed by means causing a large volume of air to flow from the confining means through the wet laundry and into the nozzle inlet means.

This application is a continuation of application 544,192 tiled Sept. 21, 1966, now abandoned.

This invention relates to a washing, dry cleaning, and/ or drying machine for laundry and other materials.

Washing, dry cleaning and drying of laundry and other materials, according to this invention, advantageously may be performed by forcing air through the laundry by applying a vacuum to a portion of the laundry and withdrawing air from such portion along with liquid, such as water and/ or moisture or vapor to remove the liquid, moisture and vapor as desired. An advantage may be obtained in the operation of such apparatus, and in the practice of the method by providing a nozzle construction past which the laundry and other materials may be moved in direct contact with the nozzle, efliciently to impart or produce the vacuum adjacent the laundry.

Another advantage of this invention provides a movable laundry containing casing adjacent to a stationary nozzle construction, over which the laundry can be moved in direct contact with the nozzle construction.

Other embodiments for applying a pressure dilierential or vacuum to the laundry and other articles are provided by this invention, as is evident from this description, the appended claimed subject matter, and/or the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a diagrammatic vertical cross section of an embodiment of this invention.

FIGURE 2 is a diagrammatic cross section transverse to FIGURE 1, taken along the line 2-2 of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 3 shows another embodiment of this invention diagrammatically in a vertical cross section.

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged diagrammatic perspective view showing the action of baffles moving laundry and the like past the nozzle construction and forcing such laundry, over and past the nozzle construction.

FIGURE 5 is another embodiment, somewhat similar to that shown in FIGURE 4, showing flexible extensions for the battle construction to extend over the nozzle construction.

FIGURE 6 is a diagrammatic perspective view showing another embodiment of this invention.

FIGURE 7 is a diagrammatic perspective view of another embodiment of this invention.

FIGURE 8 is a diagrammatic perspective view of another embodiment of this invention.

Referring first to FIGURES 1 and 2, a laundry apparatus or the like, according to this invention, may include 3,416,334 Patented Dec. 17, 1968 a confining means or washing machine 10 for receiving wet laundry or the like. Such washing machine may include, in FIGURES 1 and 2, a stationary liquid retaining tub construction 12 within which a stationary ringlike nozzle construction 14 is located. The stationary nozzle construction 14 may be in the form of a vertically disposed ring construction, the major or upper portion of which may be unperforated. However, the lower part of the ring nozzle construction may have a. perforated portion or bare air inlet means 16, which forms an efiective nozzle part of the ring construction. The remainder of the ring construction may include a funnel construction 18 on the outside of the perforated portion 16, and which is connected to a vacuum pump 20 capable of withdrawing large volumes of air through the perforated portion 16 to remove liquid and vapor of said liquid from laundry which may be placed over such perforated portions or bare inlet means 16.

A pair of cylindrical, cylindraceous, or cupli-ke members 22 and 24 may be placed with their rims 26 and 28 adjacent the stationary ring nozzle construction 14. The cylindrical members 22 and 24 may be perforated, to permit the flow of Water or other liquid therethrough, from the outer casing portion or liquid confining means 10 into the inner cup portions 22 and 24, and vice versa.

The members 22 and 24 may be sealingly secured and supported adjacent the ring nozzle construction 14 and may be provided with carrying and supporting constructions to maintain the cup portions 22 and 24 aligned with each other, and with ring nozzle construction 14. To this end, sealing and bearing members 29 and seals 30 may surround the cup rims 26 and 28. A flange construction :32 surrounds the cylindrical stationary nozzle construction 14 and the sealing and bearing members 29. Additional sealing and bearing constructions may be provided at 33 and may support the outer end ring constructions 34 and 36.

The ring construction 34 may be at the rear end of the machine and may be provided with an imperforate wall 38, if desired. The ring construction 36 may be a clothes removing and inserting open ring portion, through which the laundry may be inserted and removed from the apparatus. The usual door construction 40 may be provided for the apparatus, which may be of the character now well known and which is capable of sealing the ring construction 36 to prevent the outward splashing of water as the machine operates.

The members 22 and 24 may be rotated by any suitable means, such as by a pair of belts 42, which engage pulley constructions 44 on the cup members 22 and 24. Other pulley constructions 46 may be provided on the shaft 48. The belts 42 may pass over the pulley constructions 44 and 46, to rotate the members 22 and 24 at any desired speed. The shaft 48 may be driven by any suitable drive means 50, which may be a motor 51 with gear reduction means, or may be a gear reduction means which is connected to a motor, not shown, as desired.

The tub 12 may be encased in a casing 52, which is supported on a base 54.

Slanting baffles 56 and 58 may be provided on the interior of the members 22 and 24. These bafiles 56- and 58 are so shaped that they tend to urge the laundry 60 inwardly into the ring or nozzle construction 14, in a manner to cause the laundry to pass over the perforations or perforated portions 16, FIGURES 4 and 5, so that a direct vacuum may be produced on the laundry as it passes the nozzle construction 16, 18, so that a vacuum is produced at the proper time during the washing cycle, as desired. The perforated air inlet means 16 may be sufiicieutly bare so that the laundry 60 can come into substantially direct contact with such inlet means.

A suitable drainage pump 62 may be connected to the bottom of the tub 12, to withdraw the liquid from the tub 12, when desired. Suitable liquid introducing means 64, may include automatic valve means 66 for introducing the desired quantity of liquid at proper temperature and volume and under the control of automatic controllers, now well known, which control the desired proportion of hot and/or cold water or dry cleaning liquid.

In the operation of the apparatus of FIGURES 1 and 2, laundry to be washed or cleaned may be introduced through the opening 36, after the door construction 40 has been opened. Thereafter, the door construction may be closed. Liquid may be introduced through the inlet 64, under the automatic control of the valve means 66 to the proper level. The members 22 and 24 may be rotated at a relatively slow speed, in a manner to agitate the liquid and the laundry 60 within the members 22 and 24 for a sufficient length of time to produce the desired washing or cleaning action. During this time the vacuum pump 20 and the drainage pump 62 are not in operation.

Wh n it is desired to remove the main portion of liquid from the tub 12, the pump 62 is operated, to remove such major portion of the liquid. The tub 12 may then be refilled, if desired, for a proper number of washing or rinsing operations. The vacuum pump 20 may be operated, preferably after liquid has been removed by pump 62 to impose a vacuum on the nozzle construction 16, 18, so that a large volume of air is sucked through the laundry, which is then gradually moved across the perforated portion 16 by the bafiies 56 and 58 at first to remove excess moisture or liquid from the clothes and eventually to produce a drying action and evaporative action on the laundry as it passes the perforated portion 16.

Because of the intimate connection of the vacuum action at the perforated portion 16 and the laundry immediately adjacent thereto, a very efiicient wringing and drying action is produced on the laundry.

If desired, the cup-like members 22 and 24 may be intermittently or partially rotated so that the bailies 56 and 58 carry an accumulation of clothes over the nozzle 16 and then the cup-like members 22 and 24 may be stopped for an interval of time to permit a stationary vacuum action on the clothes. Then the rotation of the cups 22 and 24 may be resumed to agitate and redistribute the clothes. Then the baffles may again be stopped to place a second accumulation of clothes over the nozzle 16. This may be repeated several times.

In the embodiment shown in FIGURE 5, the baffles 56 and 58 are sufliciently close to the nozzle construction 14, 16 so that the laundry is efficiently force-d into the zone and immediately over the nozzle construction 16, as is obvious from FIGURE 4.

If desired, flexible tongues 70, FIGURE 5, may be dovetailed into the bafiles 56 and 58 so that the laundry is given a more intimate and squeezing action as the bafiies 56 and 58 pass over the nozzle construction 16 of FIGURE 5.

In the embodiment of FIGURE 3, a casing 52A may be provided with a stationary ring-like nozzle construction 14A which has a perforated portion 16A and a funnel 18A with a vacuum pump 20A, which may be a combined air pump and liquid pump, if desired. Cuplike members 22A and 24A may be provided with sealing and bearing constructions at 30A and 32A to seal the cup rims to the ring 14A. Belts 42A may be provided and a door construction 40A may cooperate with the ring construction 36A at one end. A closed ring construction 34A may be provided at the other end.

In general, all of the members which are indicated by reference characters having a sufiix A are intended to be substantially the same in general construction as has been shown and described in connection with FIGURES l and 2 ,However, the members 22A and 24A are not perforated in FIGURE 3, but are imperforate, and retain the liquid in them without the aid of an additional tub such as tub 12 of FIGURES 1 and 2. By this construction it is possible to provide substantially the same action, without the use of the additional tub 12A of FIGURES 1 and 2. The belts 42A may be driven by shaft and pulley constructions similar to those of FIG- URES 1 and 2.

The air inlets in the air inlet means 16 and 16A may be slanted in the direction of the movement of the laundry 60 over such inlet means 16. The slanting direction of the inlets prevents the edges of the inlet openings from producing any cutting action on the laundry. In addition, if desired, such edges of the inlet openings may be slightly rounded or otherwise rendered smooth, to prevent any such cutting action on the laundry.

It is thus to be seen that a laundry apparatus or the like has been provided at 10 which has a confining means 12 for receiving wet laundry or the like. Such confining means 12 may have a plurality of laundry supporting portion means 22, 24 and 14, each portion means supporting such laundry in the confining means 12. One of the portions 14 defines a bare nozzle inlet means 16 that is in substantially sealed relation with the laundry supported thereon and aligned therewith. Means 50 are provided for causing relative movement between said one portion means 14 and the other portion means 22, 24, to align different accumulations of laundry with the nozzle means 16. Means or pump 20 is provided to cause a large volume of fluid in said confining means to pass through said laundry into said nozzle inlet means when said laundry is aligned with said nozzle inlet means to tend to remove moisture from said laundry in an unimpeded flow between the layer 60 of laundry supported on such one portion 14 and aligned with the bare inlet means 16.

FIGURE 6 discloses a washing machine of the type disclosed in the patent to R. R. Candor, No. 3,231,909, patented Feb. 1, 1966, modified as herein disclosed. The stationary imperforate tub may contain the perforate rotatable drum 102 which may be similar respectively to the stationary tub 10, etc., and the rotatable drum 11, etc., of said Candor patent. A liquid outlet 104 for the tub 100 may be provided that may be similar to outlet 540, FIGURE 11, of said patent, etc., and such outlet 104 may be connected to a liquid propelling pump 106 to remove liquid from the tub 100 when desired. A vacuum nozzle 108 may be placed adjacent the rotatable perforated drum 102 which may be connected to a vacuum pump 110 to apply a vacuum to the clothes within the drum 102. The pump 110 may be vented to the atmosphere, or elsewhere, as desired, through conduit 112.

A vertical disc type of agitator 114 may be rotatable within the drum 102 by means of a shaft 117 which may be coaxial and telescoped with the shaft of the rotatable drum 102. Such disc type agitator 114 is well known, per se, and therefore is not further described.

The agitator 114 may be rotated while laundry is in the drum 102 and Water or other liquid is in the imperforate tub up to a level to submerge the agitator 114, and with the drain valve 116 closed. During this time the drum 102 may be stationary, if desired.

Many of the parts disclosed in connection with FIG- URE 11 of said Candor patent may be omitted in the simplified embodiment of FIGURE 6 of this application, as is obvious.

After the desired agitation and washing or rinsing action has been performed and completed in the drum 102 by the agitator 114, the agitator 114 may be stopped and the liquid may be removed from the tub 100 by the liquid pump 106 after the valve 116 is opened. Thereafter the wet laundry may have the liquid remaining in such laundry removed by operation of the vacuum pump 110 and the nozzle 108. During this time, the nozzle 108 may first remove unvaporized liquid from the laundry and later remove vaporized liquid from the laundry. Such liquid and/0r vapor may be discharged through the conduit 112 to a suitable drain or outside outlet as desired.

FIGURE 7 shows an embodiment substantially similar to that shown in FIGURE 6. Similarly shown parts may be substantially identical with those shown in FIG- URE 6, so that descriptions thereof are omitted to avoid undue repetition.

However, instead of the vacuum pump 110 and conduit 112 of FIGURE 6, the nozzle 108 of FIGURE 7 may be connected to a moisture condenser 120 which may be connected to a conduit 122 which may be provided with a plug-in outlet or connection 124 at the rear, side or top of the cabinet 126.

A vacuum cleaner 128, or other vacuum producing unit, may have its suction conduit 130 provided with a plug-in connector 132 which may be plugged in to the outlet or connector 124. When so connected the vacuum cleaner or vacuum unit 128 may produce a vacuum in the nozzle 108 to produce the same operations described in connection with FIGURE 6.

The vacuum unit 128 may be of the character dis closed in copending application of Robert R. Candor et al., Ser. No. 403,014, filed Oct. 12, 1964. Insofar as common subject matter is concerned, the operations of this application and said copending application may be similar. Reference is made to such application for continuity and more detailed description of such common subject matter. matter.

FIGURE 8 shows an embodiment somewhat similar to combination of features of FIGURES 3, 6 and 7 of this application.

The movable cup-like members 140 and 142 and the stationary ring-like nozzle construction 144 may be substantially the same as cup-like members 22A, 24A and nozzle construction 14A of FIGURE 3. However, the rear ring construction 34 of FIGURE 3 may be changed to the rear ring construction 146 of FIGURE 8. This ring construction 146 may be imperforate, but may be provided with a rotatable agitator shaft 148, which may be similar to rotatable shaft 117 of FIGURE 6. Such shaft 148 may rotate the disc type agitator 150, which may be the same as the agitator 114 of FIGURE 6.

The cup-like members 140 and 142 may be drivingly connected together in any desired manner. By way of example, they may be connected by one or more connecting brackets 152 which do not engage the stationary nozzle construction 144 but transfer the rotating or oscillating action of the cup-like members 140 and 142 to each other and also support each other by the action of said brackets 152.

The vacuum nozzle inlet means 154 may be the same as nozzle inlet means 16A of FIGURE 3 and may be connected to a suction conduit, having a valve 158 and a suction pump 160 which discharges to a suitable drain, vent, or the like.

In all of the embodiments of this application, the vacuum pumps and suction pumps therein disclosed may be provided with valves on their inlet sides to maintain liquid levels, control vacuum actions, etc., as desired.

The rear ring construction 146 and cup-like members 140 and 142 may be oscillated by connecting rod 162 which may be drivingly connected to the rear ring construction 146 and to an oscillating drive means, such as the rotatable drive disc 164 with its eccentric connection 166 with the connecting rod 162. This produces an oscillating action in the cup-like members 140 and 142.

The cup-like members 140 and 142 may have hinged covers 168 with suitable fastening means. The cabinet 170 may have a top cover 172 so that this embodiment may be filled and emptied from the top. Liquid fill means 171, etc., may be provided.

A new, unobvious, and useful washing, dry cleaning and/or drying machine has been provided by this invention.

What is claimed is:

1. A laundry apparatus or the like comprising a confining means for receiving wet laundry or the like, said confining means having a plurality of portion means, each portion means supporting said laundry in said confining means, one of said portion means defining a nozzle inlet means that is in substantially sealed relation with the laundry supported thereon and aligned therewith, means for causing relative movement between said one portion means and the other portion means to align different accumulations of laundry with said nozzle inlet means, said means for causing said relative movement between said one and other portion means causing the moving portion means to directly contact said accumulation of laundry and move the same from one side of said nozzle inlet means to the other side thereof While said laundry is in said contacted condition, and means for tending to cause a large volume of fluid in said confining means to pass through said laundry into said nozzle inlet means only when said laundry is aligned with said nozzle inlet means to tend to remove moisture from said laundry in an unimpeded fiow between the layer of laundry sup ported on said one portion means and said nozzle inlet means.

2. A laundry apparatus as set forth in claim 1 wherein said one portion means is stationary while said other portion means move relative thereto.

3. A laundry apparatus as set forth in claim 2 wherein said other portion means has means to tend to compress said laundry against said one portion means in aligned relation with said nozzle inlet means.

4. A laundry apparatus as set forth in claim 3 wherein said last-named means comprises bafiie means carried by said other portion means.

5. A laundry apparatus as set forth in claim 4 wherein said baflle means includes flexible extensions thereof adapted to extend over said one portion means.

6. A laundry apparatus as set forth in claim 1 wherein said other portion means is foraminous.

7. A laundry apparatus as set forth in claim 1 wherein said portion means cooperate together to provide a liquid retaining chamber in said confining means.

8. A laundry apparatus as set forth in claim 1 wherein said one portion means is stationary and said other portion means comprise two portion means on opposite sides of said one portion means and movable relative thereto.

9. A laundry apparatus as set forth in claim 8 wherein said portion means cooperate together to define a drumlike structure.

10. A laundry confining means having a stationary nozzle means with a stationary nozzle having a bare air inlet means exposed to the interior of said confining means, moving means for moving wet laundry over said bare air inlet means while said bare air inlet means is stationary relative to said moving wet laundry and is in substantially sealed relation therewith, said moving means directly contacting said wet laundry while moving the same from one side of said bare air inlet means to the other side thereof, and means to cause a large volume of air to pass through said laundry and into said bare air inlet means while said wet laundry is aligned and sealed therewith.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,050,975 8/1962 Pinder. 3,231,909 2/ 1966 Candor. 3,321,843 5/1967 Taran 34-133 FOREIGN PATENTS 915,647 1/1963 Great Britain.

WILLIAM I. PRICE, Primary Examiner.

US. Cl. X.R. 3492, 133 

